Passion Blog, This I Believe, Civic Issues Blog: Ideas

Passion Blog

Idea #1: I think I’m going to stick to my previous topic for my passion blog which explored recipes from different places around the world as I made (or struggle to make for that matter) them myself. The blog was a lot of fun to write and I learned a lot throughout the whole process. For this semester, I think I want to focus back on the cultural aspects that tie into the recipe I chose for each week to give the blog a more cultural/sociological aspect to it.

Ideas #2: If I were to change my blog topic, I might write about whatever part of my book I read since my last post or even a “book review” type of thing. If I did go with this choice, I think I’d have to come up with some more guidelines so that my posts aren’t just summaries.

This I Believe

Idea #1: For some reason, I used to be really afraid of the ocean and would even try to avoid it altogether. Once I forced myself to actually go and get in the water again though, my fear was suddenly lifted. That is why I believe that confrontation is the best (if not the only way) to truly overcome a fear. I had the same experience with many things (driving, interviews) but those fears were all resolved by just jumping in there. 

Idea #2: For my second idea, I want to explore my belief that music is an important source of communication, rather than just entertainment. I’m just someone who really likes music, and pretty much all types at that. I’d have to spend more time brainstorming an actual personal experience that relates to this topic but I’m sure I could find one no matter how small it is. 

Civic Issues Blog

For my Civic Issues blog, I think I’ve managed to boil down some of my interests into two main topics.

Education and Equity: There are so many factors that affect someone’s education and a lot of differences in the quality of that education based on location (and cost for college). If I got a little bit more specific, I think that I would be able to come up with a lot of topics that I could explore under this category. For example, for one entry I might compare public school funding in different areas of the country and look at how that funding is associated with testing and things like that. I might also look at something like the SAT consider how test prep, having parents that are knowledgeable about the college process, and things like that are all factors that can significantly improve a student’s performance even though they are resources not everyone has available to them. 

The Current Prison System Setup (and exploring other alternatives including those practiced in different parts of the world): I remember reading about the way certain countries view incarceration as instead a place of rehabilitation and how those who participated in that type of incarceration were much less likely to end up being sent back. A few documentaries later, and I found myself frequently considering the proven flaws with the current way the prison system is set up. I also found myself doing a lot of casual research into the success rates of different types of prison systems. If I end up choosing this topic, I might have to make it a little more specific or maybe about one social aspect of the prison system.

Questions to Ponder: Challenger Speech

Ronald Reagan’s “Speech on the Challenger Explosion” was given on January 28, 1986, directly following the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. A teacher was one of the members of the shuttle who was supposed to make it into space. For this reason, the disaster had extremely high media awareness as people were anticipating the historic moment. Unfortunately, the space shuttle was destroyed not long after its launch. As the President mentions in his speech, this was the first time an astronaut was lost during an accident in flight. This tragedy impacted the nation as Americans mourned the loss. Therefore, the occasion of this speech was that recent tragedy that happened earlier that morning. The speed at which this speech was prepared and given reveals how much public attention this accident received and how it was a national loss.

The audience of this speech is the general American public. At one point towards the middle of the speech, President Reagan directly addresses the school children listening and those who watched the live footage when the accident happened. He explains to them that the emotions of grief they are feeling are normal, and this should not scare them away. At one point in the speech, President Reagan also speaks to the members of the audience who are skeptical of the space program and who want to blame NASA for the accident. President Reagan also directly speaks to the members of the family of the crewmates and offers his condolences. Towards the end of the speech, President Reagan says he wishes he could speak individually to each person who worked on this mission at NASA to personally recognize the anguish they were experiencing and how America is still proud of all of the things they have accomplished despite this tragedy.

The speaker is the President of the United States at the time, Ronald Reagan. As President, he commands much respect from his audience and his audience recognizes him as a reliable and reputable figure. He is shown sitting at his desk in the Oval Office. In this speech, President Reagan is also personable as he relates to the loss the audience feels.

The speech itself uses a lot of words of inspiration to get across the message that the members of the crew were brave and should be looked up to. He also refers to this tragedy as terrible, but also something that should not deter the audience from exploration in the future. Instead, he tries to uplift his audience by saying that this tragedy will help improve us for the future. He also spends a good portion of his speech defending the space program. This is probably due to the controversy and conspiracies that were brought up as a result of this accident. President Reagan is using his authority as a respected official to restore the audience’s faith in the space program. He chooses to say, “Nothing ends here,” and uses powerful words like “freedom”, “pioneers”, and “future” to remind the audience that despite this tragedy, the people of America will be able to move forward.

Sources: https://www.space.com/18084-space-shuttle-challenger.html

Questions to Ponder: New Civic Activities

Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, new “civic activities” have now been accepted as normal. We find these activities being performed in this “new normal” way of living as a direct result of the pandemic.

The most obvious civic activity that has arisen from this pandemic is wearing a mask in public and respecting social distancing guidelines. By wearing a mask, people are acknowledging the civic commonplace that the safety and protection of the greater community are more important than any minor inconvenience. Although some people disagree with this sentiment, those who do wear masks are exhibiting this commonplace. Especially at the beginning of the pandemic during quarantine, people who posted on social media for hanging out with friends were called out for being selfish and reckless. This shows that many people had adapted this new notion that staying at home during quarantine is a civic activity and those who do not respect that activity are also not respecting the commonplace of keeping each other safe despite the inconvenience.

Another civic activity that has arisen since the pandemic is trying to buy from local small businesses, as opposed to large corporations. Because of the pandemic, a lot of local businesses are struggling, especially those in the food industry. From what I noticed with the people in my town, a lot of people are trying to dine at local restaurants instead of larger chain restaurants. I’ve also noticed that people are trying to purchase more products from websites like Etsy when they can to support a local artist or just someone trying to make an additional salary as a result of losing their main source of income. Personally, I think that this is a really interesting civic activity that has arisen from the pandemic. Supporting these local businesses relates to the civic commonplace that communities need to come together in times of need.

Staying informed and up to date with the news is not a new civic activity, but it is definitely a much more practiced one since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. Checking the guidelines and updates of the CDC and health professionals in particular is definitely something new that is being practiced. Between the constant update of information that the public is receiving about the pandemic, as well as the excess of leisure time many have because of the stay at home order, more and more people are staying up to date with the news. I myself have found the news tab on my computer open at all times as well as the new channels on the TV in the background too. Staying informed, particularly about the pandemic as well as with information from reputable health sources, exhibits the commonplace that staying informed is a civic duty and can help us make more informed decisions in the future. Nowadays, we assume that people have seen the recent coronavirus case reports as well as the new mandates that open or close indoor dining, for example. We currently live in a world where we expect everyone around us to have the same new information, and therefore assume that everyone is also in touch with new sources regularly.

TED Talk Reflection & History of a Public Controversy Ideas

I was pretty nervous about my TED Talk because I was really struggling to decide what information to keep in my presentation and what I had to cut in order to stay under the time limit. I was pretty unsure about how strong my information was because I was afraid I wouldn’t be clear enough in my ideas to actual exemplify my thesis as well as a paradigm shift in general. I also spent a lot of time trying to make my presentation slides as effective as possible, after deciding that the previous theme that I used was just not a good fit. In terms of my recorded presentation, I think it went well. I was pleasantly surprised that I rerecorded my presentation significantly fewer times, which I attribute to knowing the information a little better. I also really loved watching my group members’ projects and I thought they all had such amazing topics as well as presentations in general.

For our History of a Public Controversy Project, I have a few ideas that I’ve been brainstorming that might work well. In terms of the current times we are living in, I think it might be interesting to consider how COVID-19 and enforcing mask-wearing in public has turned into a controversial topic, especially as people cite their constitutional rights. Another idea I had was about the idea of privacy rights, especially in terms of government surveillance and things like that. I think this is another topic that has some potential in terms of considering how people consider the commonplace that the government is supposed to keep its citizens safe in contrast with people considering how this government surveillance is impeding on people’s rights. I’m really looking forward to hearing what my other group members come up with for this project and working with them on this!

Okonomiyaki

This week I decided to make okonomiyaki which, I’ll be honest, I really didn’t know about until I stumbled across this recipe. A lot of the recipes I came across actually referred to okonomiyaki as a type of street food, so I thought that was something fun to try out! After doing some research, I learned that this Japanese recipe is pretty popular and after trying it, I can definitely see why.

I really liked the recipe that I decided to use because it included a lot of background information where I learned a lot about this dish.

I also appreciated the simplified instructions and photos that made this recipe seem a lot less daunting, especially since I had no idea what to expect.

When I started cooking, all I really knew was that this dish was eventually supposed to resemble a “Japanese pancake”. I’ll be honest, this recipe was pretty intimidating at first but looking back on it, I really don’t think it was as complicated as I originally expected. Finding a “Japanese yam” was probably the most difficult part of this whole recipe which I eventually did.

The actual recipe was really easy to follow and once I had the right ingredients, it was pretty smooth sailing from there. I was really pleasantly surprised by how this dish turned out because it was my favorite amount of delicious and savory. I decided to use shrimp instead of pork for this recipe and I thought it was so good. The whole thing took me about an hour (not including the amount of time I spent looking for the ingredients at the store) so I think it was a good amount of time, especially considering that you can prep a lot of them at once and keep them to cook for later in the week. This is another recipe that I would definitely recommend with the colder weather slowly creeping up.

I also loved how this recipe was super customizable, and a lot of the recipes I read suggest a bunch of different toppings and ingredients that you could pick and choose from. For some of the more difficult to find ingredients (like the Japanese yam), the recipe also offered a lot of different alternatives and substitutes which was really helpful to have especially since these ingredients were not as easy to find in my local supermarket. If you’re interested in learning more about the different traditional Japanese ingredients, I’d definitely recommend checking out the link to the recipe.

If anyone decides to try this recipe out over the break, I’d love to hear about it (or if anyone has ever had this before). I’ll attach a link to the recipe I used at the bottom of this post as well as the source for the photo I used.

Okonomiyaki Recipe

Photo Source: https://thejapantry.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Okonomiyaki-closeup.jpg

Ratatouille

This week I’ve decided to take a look at both a dish from my own culture but also a fun one that people love from the Disney movie. For anyone who hasn’t watched the movie, ratatouille is pretty much a traditional French vegetable stew which I thought would be perfect for the cold weather we had last week.

One thing to note is that some recipes are arranged in a dish in a more “organized” arrangement in a sort of spiral formation (like how it is in the movie) and is baked in the oven. I’ll include a picture of both arrangements that I’ve come across, but they’re both technically just different arrangements of the same recipe. For me, it was just a lot easier to make everything in a pot, but I’d definitely be interested in trying out the other version of this recipe just to see how it might be different.

I haven’t had this dish in a while, and I was honestly presently surprised by how well it turned out. I didn’t really expect anything special considering I felt like I was just cooking a bunch of different vegetables together, but it actually eventually came together really nicely into an actual stew. The ingredients I used for this were honestly pretty simple and things I could easily pick up if I didn’t already have them in my kitchen.

Making this dish was honestly a lot easier than I expected and didn’t require a lot of active work once I cut up all the vegetables I was going to use. The whole recipe took me about an hour to make, but I only had to work on it for about 25 minutes before I just let it cook. This is the perfect recipe to warm you up especially on a cold day, so I’ll definitely be making this dish more as the weather gets colder.

If anyone has any recommendations for a recipe I should check out next week, feel free to let me know. On top of that, if anyone decides to try this recipe out (or a version of it), I’d love to hear how you liked it. I also read some things about how a lot of different cultures have very similar dishes so if you know about those, I’d love to hear what you think about them. I’ll leave a link to the recipe I used down below and the source for the picture I used too.

Ratatouille Recipe

Photo Sources:

  1. Photo 1 
  2. Photo 2

Paradigm Shift Outline

Thesis: The word “girl” has shifted meanings to mirror the importance of gender roles and feminism throughout time. 

*Definitely need to make my thesis stronger and more specific*

  1. Original Meaning of The Word
    1. References to how the word originally referred to a child regardless of their sex
    2. Short etymology background
  2. Transformation into it meaning “woman” or anyone of 
    1. “Man and Girl”
  3. Modern feminism transforming the word’s meaning again
    1. How some see it as a demeaning term used against women
    2. Growing popularity of “girl power”
    3. Examples of girls in pop culture
      1. “Golden girls”, Beyonce’s “Who Runs the Word”, Spice Girls

Unit 2 Project Sources

For my Unit 2 Project, I’ve decided to stick with how the word “girl” (previously spelled “gyrl”) has had a complete shift in meaning since its origination somewhere around the 13 century. In its original context, the word referred to a young child, regardless of gender. Then the definition shifted as literature began to refer to married couples as “husband and gyrl”. Yet today “girl” not only refers to only a female child, but it is also considered a word with demeaning intentions as women are constantly referred to as “girl” in their everyday lives, deeming them immature and childlike. So then why are there so many examples of “girls” in our everyday lives? There are so many songs, TV shows, and movies that include the word “girls”, even when the characters seem like they would be considered “women”. The re-ownership and attempt to redefine the word “girl” into the concept of “girl power” is something that a lot of powerful feminists are striving to accomplish. Basically, I want to first look at the original history of the word girl, how it changed to mean a female child, and how it’s modern applications are yet again redefining the word.

Source #1: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/history-of-the-word-girl_n_57bb6915e4b0b51733a53195 (This source provided me with a lot of my inspiration for this topic and considers not only the history of the word girl but its dainty connotation and how pop culture and modern feminists are trying to redefine the word yet again. It also mentions important information about how young women are uncomfortable using the word “woman” without really knowing why.)

Source #2: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/girl (This source just provides some ways that the word girl is used today and exemplifies how it can be used in a lot of different contexts.)

Source #3: https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/grammar-vocabulary/story/word-girl-used-for-both-boys-and-girls-gender-neutral-word-origin-1645482-2020-02-11 (This source is where I learned the original literary uses of the word “gyrl” and when it began to refer to a female.”)

Source #4: https://historyofwomen.org/ (This source provided me with a lot of the historical context in England that I can use to further understand how the perception of women changed from the 1300s to the 1600s to get a better understanding of why the word “girl” needed to change.)

Source #5: https://qz.com/1078044/girl-power-girly-girl-the-origins-of-the-word-girl/ (This source is less formal but still provides interesting information of the etymology of the word and its German roots. It also mentions the fact that while we are used to words changing meanings as time goes on, changing a word’s entire gender is quite uncommon.)

Pasta al Pesto alla Genovese

Last week, someone recommended that I check out a traditional Italian pasta with a pesto sauce. I decided to try it out, and I was not at all disappointed with the results.

This week I actually used two different recipes (one in English and one in Italian) so that I could get an authentic understanding of this dish. It required a lot of back and forth with Google Translate but it was honestly worth it!

Something I learned this week is that this dish is typically served with boiled potatoes and green beans which makes it the traditional Genovese dish. Personally, I didn’t know that an authentic Italian pasta with pesto dish had these components so that was really interesting to read about. The Italian recipe included a lot of small pieces of information that just made it feel more authentic. For example, the pesto sauce you make should be cold before you add it to your pasta.

Overall, this recipe was honestly pretty simple. You just have to blend a handful of ingredients to make the pesto, cook some pasta, and boil potatoes and green beans. Some recipes are very specific about what type of pasta to use for your dish, while others seem to say it doesn’t really matter. I ended up just using whatever I had in my kitchen, which was fettuccini. To save space and time, I even cooked the potatoes with the pasta. Even though it’s not hard at all, this recipe definitely feels very authentic. Maybe it’s because I had to read parts of it in Italian, but this recipe made me feel like I was really engaging in Italian culture. I always thought that making my own pesto would be too much work, so I always opted for the jarred pesto option. After this week though, I now know that not only is making it not difficult at all but the whole recipe takes not much more work than making plain pasta. I’ll definitely have to make it a regular dinner meal.

I’m also going to start adding pictures to my posts, which I couldn’t really figure out how to do before now. Hopefully, these pictures (that are not mine) helps to give you a better understanding of what each recipe entails. I’ll be including my sources for these pictures at the bottom of my posts just like I do with the recipes in case you want to check them out too.

If anyone decides to try this recipe out (or ever has before), I’d love to hear how you liked it and if you did anything differently. Thanks for suggesting this dish! Let me know if you have any suggestions for next week’s recipe.

Pasta alla Genovese Recipe (English)

Pasta al Pesto alla Genovese Recipe (Italian)

 

Photo Source: https://www.ilcuoreinpentola.it/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/pasta-al-pesto-alla-genovese.jpg